Patriarch Kirill announced the discovery of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God from the 16th century

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ announced the discovery of the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of the 16th century, which had long been considered lost. He made such a statement before the start of the liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin on the Day of National Unity and the celebration of the Kazan Icon, two clergymen held the shrine in their hands in front of the patriarch.

The examination concluded that this image belongs to the very era in which the miraculous image was created. And since this icon is, as it were, an exact, most accurate copy of that created icon, it is absolutely obvious that two identical icons could not have been created at that time and that we are talking about a miraculous image, about the very image in front of which both Minin and Pozharsky prayed. This event can be classified as a historical event. I didn’t immediately decide to talk about all this in church, but then I realized that it was impossible to hide this story, our people and the whole world should know about itsaid the Patriarch.

The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is one of the main Russian shrines, associated with the most important events in the history of the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church. She appeared in Kazan in 1579, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Lists of icons have become widespread, many are known as miraculous, but the prototype itself was considered to have disappeared. According to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, in recent years the icon was kept in the patriarchal residence in Peredelkino among other icons in a warehouse. The appearance of the icon occurred “at the most dangerous time” for the country, and after the liberation of Moscow and all of Rus’ from Polish invaders, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky built a temple dedicated to the Kazan Mother of God on Red Square and placed her image there. Then, however, the Kazan Icon disappeared from this temple. According to the Patriarch, the most common version was that the icon was stolen and could have been taken abroad, resold, or left “somewhere in the depths of personal collections.”

But it turned out that the icon did not disappear anywhere, it remained in Russia, pious people saved it. And at some point this icon was brought to the temple thanks to an outstanding person, an art critic who devoted many years of his life to the study of ancient Russian icon painting. And thanks to a thorough art history examination, it was precisely determined that this image is the very image in the hands of which Prince Pozharsky and Minin liberated Kitay-Gorod, the Kremlin and expelled the Poles from our Fatherlandsaid Patriarch Kirill.

According to him, at first he was completely sure that this was one of many copies, but the examinations carried out convinced him that in this case we were talking about the original.

This image is our common national shrine. Let’s hope that this shrine will preserve our people in our difficult times and protect our Fatherland from enemies, both external and internal“, concluded the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Patriarchal word about the found miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God — HERE.

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